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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27722461">a waste of a lovely night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/trite/pseuds/trite'>trite</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>a view that's tailor-made for two [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:54:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,003</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27722461</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/trite/pseuds/trite</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dameron turned to look at the space ahead, the light of the lanterns making his eyes seem bright and his eyelashes delicate against his cheeks. “At one point, you will have to stop thinking of us as your enemies, you know?”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Poe Dameron/Armitage Hux</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>a view that's tailor-made for two [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043919</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a waste of a lovely night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The lovely @venatohru prompted me with ‘camping.’ This is definitely not what you had in mind, baby. Enjoy?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>Ajan Kloss transformed at night. It surprised Hux to see its unpleasantly humid climate take on a more temperate nature. It served to explain the more — amorous mood that some people around the camp were displaying. That, in turn, explained everyone’s easy acceptance of the idea of tent-sharing.</p><p>Hux was not feeling in a particularly celebratory mood and the way these people could turn their losses into an excuse to come together (perhaps, in more ways than one) was foreign to him. Victories in the Order had been accompanied by a sense of accomplishment, by the promise of a future ahead. The idea of having, once again, proven your worth. All victories had carried an undercurrent of danger to them, though. Every time he had succeeded, the urge to see him fail had intensified in his peers. The urge to outdo him. Hux had experienced it himself, so he wouldn’t claim to be above it. To an extent, the edge of paranoia had felt more comfortable than the rush of victory.</p><p>Hux sat outside in the middle of their makeshift camp, surrounded by a cluster of lanterns on the ground, and looked above at the bioluminescent beetles that seemed to cover the tall trees, gathering around their leaves, almost bringing it to life. While his surroundings had seemed suffocating and oppressive in bright daylight, they seemed almost warm and welcoming now. It was a far more dangerous notion.</p><p>“Weren’t you assigned a tent?” said Dameron, coming out of nowhere. He had been omnipresent throughout the celebrations. Hux’s eyes had tracked his movements for lack of something better to watch.</p><p>"I was. I would rather stay out here if it's all the same to you." Hux supposed he was bound by their rules and subject to their whims now and should act accordingly. He was no stranger to sycophancy; having to do so for Poe Dameron, of all people, should have been proof of far he had fallen and how derailed he had allowed his life to get, but all things considered, it couldn't possibly be worse than doing it for Kylo Ren. You could have hardly found a less deserving being in the entire galaxy than Ren.</p><p>Dameron narrowed his eyes. “Sure, but why?”</p><p>“I am disinclined to share a tent with or sleep next to an enemy. For obvious reasons.”</p><p>Dameron sighed. “May I?” he said signaling the space next to Hux, affording him the illusion of choice.</p><p>Hux played along and nodded. He flinched when Dameron jostled his injured leg, but it was mainly due to the close proximity they found themselves in, and not pain.</p><p>“Sorry. Did I hurt you?” He made to place his hand <em>somewhere</em> in Hux’s vicinity, but reconsidered at the last minute, letting it dangle between his knees.</p><p>“I don’t get hurt,” Hux snapped, feeling embarrassed for no good reason. It made him defensive, which in turn showed weakness.</p><p>“Right,” Dameron said slowly. He turned to look at the space ahead, the light of the lanterns making his eyes seem bright and his eyelashes delicate against his cheeks. “At one point, you will have to stop thinking of us as your enemies, you know?”</p><p>“That is a one-sided expectation, is it not?” Hux asked. Everyone had been too busy, too joyous, too shellshocked to pay him any mind. It wouldn’t remain that way and his presence would, sooner rather than later, begin to grate. Understandably so.</p><p>“No, you’re safe here. No one is waiting for you to lower your guard so they can hurt you. And you need to sleep <em>sometime.</em> I didn’t rescue you to have you die of sleep deprivation.” He turned his face upward, toward the explosion of stars overhead, giving Hux a perfect view of his profile.</p><p>“That is not a real thing.” Hux would know. He had gone days without sleep in the Order and he had been fine.</p><p>“What? Of course that’s— nevermind.”</p><p>“Is this the part where I am meant to fawn over you? Convey my undying gratitude for having saved my life against my express wishes?” If Dameron wanted to feel validated for playing hero, he had a whole base of Rebels willing to do that for him.</p><p>He scoffed. “I don’t expect that from you but I won’t apologize for having saved you. Maybe it seemed worth it to you at the time, but your life is worth more than a petty vendetta.”</p><p>Hux stared fixedly at the lanterns illuminating their features until his eyes burned and itched so much that the cause for his reaction couldn’t be attributed to anything else. Unfortunately, he had no way to justify the presence of whatever had lodged itself in his throat, impeding his ability to swallow, only leaving room for the smallest amount of oxygen to pass through. Nothing more than what Hux strictly needed.</p><p>“Hey,” Dameron continued. “I can’t play favorites with you. Is that what you’re angling for? What’s your plan here? To get a tent all of your own? Private accommodations equal in luxury to those in a star destroyer?” He chuckled weakly and the sound felt alive and vibrant next to Hux, echoing all the way through the night sky.</p><p>Maybe the sound would alert the wildlife that undoubtedly lived beyond the camp. Maybe they would feast on Hux’s flesh and discard all the useless parts of him, since he had, despite his best efforts, failed at doing so. “Maybe I will get mauled by a savage beast.”</p><p>After a long pause, Dameron said, “well, I am against that plan. Maybe I should keep you company and make sure that doesn’t happen.”</p><p>“Don’t <em>you</em> have to sleep?” Hux asked.</p><p>“I have it on good authority that that kind of thing can wait.” He sounded weary. He shifted next to Hux and their knees bumped together. “Sorry,” he said, and this time placed his hand on Hux’s thigh, on top of his bandage, right where the skin felt raw and tender, brand new.</p><p>“It didn’t hurt.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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